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Law firms ask Oglebay Norton judge again to appoint an official toxic claims committee
By Jeff Pines
Washington, Aug. 20 - A group of law firms asked again for the judge in the Oglebay Norton Co. bankruptcy case to appoint an official toxic tort claimants committee. The firms filed their first request in March.
The memorandum was filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware Friday.
Oglebay Norton, the U.S. trustee, the lenders and the unsecured creditors' committee opposed the first request. They argued the claimants' interests were already adequately represented.
The law firms allege the more than 100,000 toxic tort claimants' interests have not been well served and need an official committee to protect the claimants' interests.
"The trade creditors, whose interests are represented by the unsecured creditors' committee, negotiated a plan that will pay them in full, in cash, on the effective date of the plan of reorganization. The tens of thousands of tort victims will be paid, after their claims are liquidated, from a dwindling pool of undisclosed insurance that the debtors concede will be insufficient to pay present claims in full with no reserves for future claims," the law firms said.
Oglebay Norton and its subsidiaries want to speed the process, restructure its debt, but "along the way, these debtors have forgotten their tort victims, for whom time is not simply money, but a quickly diminishing luxury," the law firms said.
The law firms are Cooney & Conway, Kelly & Ferraro LLP, Maritime Asbestos Legal Clinic, Bevan Associates LPA, Baron & Budd PC and Silber Pearlman LLP.
A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 24.
Oglebay Norton filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 23. Its Chapter 11 case number is 04-10558.
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